How to Renew a US Passport: By Mail, Online, or Expedited (2026)

Renewal is not a new application with the serial numbers filed off. It is a different product — a different form, a different fee stack, no appointment, and no agent watching you sign. Travelers who treat renewal like a first passport end up at a post office counter they never needed to visit, paying an execution fee that does not apply to them.

This desk does not process applications and does not hold agency slots. The notes below come from travel.state.gov — the renewal eligibility page, the fees page, the processing-times page, and USPS guidance for the envelope itself. Everything dollar-and-clock shaped below is from an October 2026 desk pass; the live page wins every time.

If you have never held a passport — or your situation bounces you back to the in-person process — that is the sibling guide: how to get a passport fast. If the destination is Europe, the entry-authorization layer on top of the book is ETIAS — not live yet, and not a renewal problem.

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Unique angle: renewal is the mail product, and the real work is the eligibility test

Listicles flatten “renew your passport” into a photo-and-envelope story. The fork that actually decides your month is whether you qualify for Form DS-82 by mail at all:

• Eligible for DS-82: you print one form at home, put the old book and a photo in an envelope, and mail it. No appointment, no acceptance facility, no execution fee.
• Not eligible: you are back on Form DS-11, in person, with certified citizenship evidence — the whole first-passport process.

Most renewal pain in traveler threads is a failed eligibility test discovered after the envelope was sealed. The test is four questions, and it comes next.

Listing check: DS-82 (not DS-11), the actual old book in the envelope, one spec-compliant photo, name-change paper if the name moved, payment made out the way the current form says, and the processing-times page printed the week you mail.

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Before you renew

• Pull the old book and check two dates: when it was issued, and whether you were 16 or older on that date.
• Confirm the name on the book matches your current legal name — or dig out the certified marriage certificate or court order now, not at the mailbox.
• Open current processing times and write the number on a sticky note. It is not this article.
• Count backward from your next international departure, including any visa stop.
• Decide routine vs expedite vs agency from that calendar, not from a forum.
• Get the photo shot to the current spec — recent, no glasses, plain background.
• Check the online renewal status page once. If the portal is closed, stop waiting for it and mail the DS-82.

Hubs for the rest of the trip: the blog index and the flights hub.

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The four-question DS-82 eligibility test

You can renew by mail only if all four are true, per the State Department’s renewal page:

1. You can submit your most recent passport — the physical book goes in the envelope, undamaged.
2. It was issued when you were 16 or older. A childhood book does not qualify, even if it expired last month.
3. It was issued within the last 15 years. This is the tripwire. A book issued 16 or 20 years ago — expired or not — pushes you to DS-11 in person.
4. It was issued in your current name, or you enclose a certified document (marriage certificate, court order) that traces the change.

Note what is not on the list: “expired.” An expired passport renews by mail exactly like a valid one, as long as the 15-year and age tests pass. Plenty of travelers assume an expired book means starting over with a birth certificate at a post office. Usually it does not.

Fail any of the four — damaged book, issued at 14, issued in 1998, name mismatch with no paper — and you are a DS-11 applicant. That process and the appointment logic are covered in how to get a passport fast.

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Renewal by mail, step by step

1. Fill the DS-82. Use the State Department’s form tool rather than a PDF from a random site, print it the way the form instructions say, and sign it the way the sheet tells you — not from memory.
2. One photo, to the photo requirements: 2x2 inches, taken within the last six months, no glasses, plain background.
3. The old book goes in the envelope. Not a photocopy — the actual book. Photograph the data page before you seal it, because you will be without a passport until the new one lands.
4. Name-change paper, certified copy, if the name moved.
5. Payment for the amount and payee the current form states. The format has changed more than once — read the form’s payment block, not a blog’s.
6. Mail it to the address the DS-82 instructions list for your state and speed — routine and expedited have different addresses. Buy a traceable label at the USPS counter; an untracked envelope is how renewals vanish, and your only passport is inside.

The old book comes back separately, cancelled, usually after the new one arrives. Some countries want to see the old visas that lived in it — keep both.

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The online renewal portal is a sometimes-product

The State Department’s online renewal has run in waves: eligibility opens, daily application caps fill by mid-morning, the portal pauses for upgrades, then it reopens with new rules. As of this desk pass it is neither reliably open nor reliably closed, and the eligibility criteria (adult renewal, standard book, no complex name change) live on the status page, not here.

Treat online renewal like a fast lane that may or may not exist the week you need it: check the official status page once, and if it is closed, mail the DS-82 the same day. Do not build a travel calendar around a portal reopening, and do not pay a third party to “file your online renewal.”

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Processing times: as of writing, and only as of writing

The honest answer to “how long does renewal take” is whatever the processing-times page says the morning you seal the envelope. As of writing — an October 2026 desk pass of that page — routine renewal has been running in the 4-6 week range and expedited in the 2-3 week range, at the agency, with mail on top: up to roughly two weeks to reach them and more for the return unless you buy faster delivery.

That is a snapshot, not a schedule. The same page moves with the season — late winter through summer is the crush, October-November the quieter window. Put the live number on your calendar, never this article’s.

One renewal-specific wrinkle: you mail your current passport away. If you have international travel inside the processing window, that is the real deadline pressure — the book is out of your hands until the new one ships back.

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Expedited renewal and urgent travel

Expedite (+$60) is the checkbox for “I have a real ticket inside the routine window.” With a mailed DS-82, write EXPEDITE on the envelope the way the current instructions specify, and consider the paid faster return delivery — the math is $60 plus a small delivery fee against a missed flight.

Regional passport agency is for the 14-day pile: an appointment, proof of upcoming foreign travel, and your file walked through in person. Appointments open at the official scheduling site or 1-877-487-2778 on weekdays. They are limited, they are not post offices, and showing up without one wastes the day. Life-or-death emergencies run through a separate emergency process — that is on the urgent-travel page, not a booking site.

Private expediters sell hand-holding, sometimes a courier, and a few hundred dollars on top of government fees. They cannot manufacture an agency slot the government does not have. Price the official appointment first; the full middleman math is in the fast-passport guide.

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What renewal costs

Use the fees page for the morning-of dollars. The shape of it, as of writing:

Item	What the page listed at this desk’s last pass
Passport book renewal (DS-82)	$130
Passport card only	$30
Book + card	$160
Acceptance / execution fee	$35 — DS-11 in-person only; not paid on a mailed DS-82
Expedite add-on	$60 per application
1-3 day return delivery	A separate fee in the low $20s — confirm the printed amount

The execution-fee line is the one renewal applicants get wrong: DS-82 mailers never pay it, while travelers who wrongly file DS-11 do. If your total includes a $35 charge and you mailed a DS-82, reread the instructions before you send anything.

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The photo, one more time

Rejected photos are the classic renewal bounce. The requirements are blunt: taken within six months, 2x2, plain background, no glasses, no hat, face sized to the template. Drugstore printers get shadows and old prescriptions wrong; the Department’s photo tool catches it before the envelope does. A second photo session costs less than a restart.

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Mistakes that send renewals back

1. Mailing a DS-82 for a book issued more than 15 years ago — the eligibility test failed after the envelope was sealed.
2. Photocopy of the old book instead of the book itself.
3. A current name that does not match the book, with no certified change document enclosed.
4. Payment written to the wrong payee or for the wrong amount.
5. A photo the Department’s own tool would have rejected in ten seconds.
6. No tracking on an envelope that contains your only passport.

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When to skip the rush products

• Skip expedite when routine plus mail sits comfortably inside your calendar. Sixty dollars saved is a travel day fund.
• Skip the agency when you are outside the urgent-travel window — appointments belong to people with departure dates.
• Skip the online-portal vigil when the status page says closed. The mailbox works every day.
• Skip renewal itself only if the book genuinely has runway: many countries want six months of validity past your return, so “not expired yet” is not the same as “fine to travel on.” The country pages on travel.state.gov list that rule where it applies.

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Desk checklist at submission

• DS-82, completed per the current instructions
• Old book in the envelope; data page photographed and stored off-body
• Certified name-change paper, if the name moved
• One photo that passed the Department’s own tool
• Payment exactly as the form specifies
• Correct mailing address for routine vs expedited
• Tracking on the outbound envelope
• Processing-times page dated the day you mailed

Then stop refreshing the status tracker and go back to the trip. Data on arrival is the eSIM guide; the policy on the ticket is travel insurance. Neither prints a passport.

FAQ

Can I renew by mail if the passport expired years ago? Yes, if it was issued within the last 15 years and you were 16+ at issuance. “Expired” is not a disqualifier; “old” is.

Do I send my old passport away? Yes — the actual book goes in the DS-82 envelope. It comes back cancelled, separately, usually after the new one.

Is online renewal available? In waves. Check the official status page the week you plan to file. Closed portal, mail envelope, same day.

Does renewal cost less than a new passport? The government fees are the same book fee. The difference is the $35 execution fee, which only in-person DS-11 applicants pay.

Can I expedite a renewal by mail? Yes — the expedite checkbox, $60 as of writing, EXPEDITE written on the envelope, and optionally faster paid return delivery.

What if I need it this week? Regional passport agency, appointment, proof of travel within their urgent window. The agency counter is the only same-week product the government sells.

Related reading

• How to Get a Passport Fast — the DS-11 first-book process this guide keeps handing you back to
• ETIAS for Europe Travel — the entry layer on top of the book, not yet in operation
• Travel Insurance Guide — the policy on top of the ticket
• Best eSIM for International Travel — data after the book clears
• Flights hub · All guides